Method, system and computer program product for efficient storage of data

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for efficient storage of data for use by an application, including a set top box. The set top box including a physical memory, a bulk storage device, and a memory management unit (MMU) coupled between the application and the physical memory and the bulk storage device. The physical memory and the bulk storage device are configured to store the data. The MMU is configured to translate a virtual address provided by the application to a physical address used by one of the physical memory and the bulk storage device.

1 . A method comprising:
 accessing a virtual memory page associated with a program guide;   obtaining a virtual address corresponding to the virtual memory page;   translating the virtual address to a physical address;   determining whether the physical address is mapped to a physical page in a volatile memory;   generating a page fault if no physical address is mapped to the physical page;   determining whether to replace the physical page using a predetermined scheme;   determining whether the physical page to be replaced has been updated; and   if no update is determined, freeing a page within the volatile memory and mapping another virtual memory page to the corresponding freed page within the volatile memory, wherein a corresponding page in a hard disk is stored in location of the freed page.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined scheme is on a least-recently-used page basis. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the physical page is stored according to a First In First Out (FIFO) basis or a Last In First Out (LIFO) basis. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the volatile memory and the hard disk are part of a set-top box. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 receiving data associated with the program guide over a communication channel.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the communications channel is either one of a satellite communications channel, a cable communications channel, a digital video broadcasting (DVB) communications channel, or a terrestrial broadcast communications channel. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 presenting the program guide on a device coupled to the set top box, wherein the program guide specifies either a program time, a program channel, a program identification, or a combination thereof.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the program identification includes information regarding at least one of actors, ratings, description of programs, cost for pay per view, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the hard disk stores data including one of data structures, executable code, displayable user interface data, and Web page data for an application that comprises a database application, an executable program application, a user interface program application, and a Web browser program application. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor configured to access a virtual memory page associated with a program guide and to obtain a virtual address corresponding to the virtual memory page;   a hard disk coupled to the processor; and   a volatile memory coupled to the processor,   wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps of,
 translating the virtual address to a physical address, 
 determining whether the physical address is mapped to a physical page in a volatile memory, 
 generating a page fault if no physical address is mapped to the physical page, 
 determining whether to replace the physical page using a predetermined scheme, 
 determining whether the physical page to be replaced has been updated, and 
 if no update is determined, freeing a page within the volatile memory and mapping another virtual memory page to the corresponding freed page within the volatile memory, wherein a corresponding page in the hard disk is stored in location of the freed page. 
   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the predetermined scheme is on a least-recently-used page basis. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the physical page is stored according to a First In First Out (FIFO) basis or a Last In First Out (LIFO) basis. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is a set-top box. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a communication interface configured to receive data associated with the program guide over a communication channel.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the communications channel is either one of a satellite communications channel, a cable communications channel, a digital video broadcasting (DVB) communications channel, or a terrestrial broadcast communications channel. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein the processor is further configured to present the program guide on a device coupled to the set top box, the program guide specifying either a program time, a program channel, a program identification, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the program identification includes information regarding at least one of actors, ratings, description of programs, cost for pay per view, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the hard disk stores data including one of data structures, executable code, displayable user interface data, and Web page data for an application that comprises a database application, an executable program application, a user interface program application, and a Web browser program application. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for efficient storage of data for use by an application, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
 accessing a virtual memory page associated with the program guide;   obtaining a virtual address corresponding to the virtual memory page;   translating the virtual address to a physical address;   determining whether the physical address is mapped to a physical page in a volatile memory;   generating a page fault if no physical address is mapped to the physical page;   determining whether to replace the physical page using a predetermined scheme;   determining whether the physical page to be replaced has been updated; and   if no update is determined, freeing a page within the volatile memory and mapping another virtual memory page to the corresponding freed page within the volatile memory, wherein a corresponding page in a hard disk is stored in location of the freed page.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the predetermined scheme is on a least-recently-used page basis.